The National - Boxer

The National are never going to be world beaters: they are a band who play best when you're sitting round a table drinking red wine and tapping the glass - Oh - yes - there was a terrific video of "Start A War" from 2007's Boxer via Blogotheque that trailed the album where the band sit round a picnic table and more-or-less a-capella this song.

2005's Alligator was a grower that gets as much airplay chez moi as the rest of that year's output combined. My favourite track changes like London weather. The big question for me is whether Boxer could match it. And it does. It makes Alligator much harder to listen to - it's that good. Current fave is Apartment Story, but it could just as easily be any of the other tracks on the disc in some way - and it may just turn out that's the case over the coming year.

Start with Fake Empire and move on to Mistaken for Strangers - and go wild from there.